Ohio House approves honoring fallen servicemen

Thursday

Jun 28, 2007 at 10:48 AM

The Ohio House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a measure creating memorial highways for two local servicemen who died serving in Iraq.

House Bill 273 includes a provision naming the northbound portion of State Route 59 in Cuyahoga Falls between Howe Avenue and Broad Boulevard the Sgt. Bryan W. Large Memorial Highway and the southbound portion of the same section of road the Sgt. Justin T. Walsh Memorial Highway.

The measure was proposed by State Rep. John Widowfield (R-42), who is a U.S. Army veteran.

"Bryan Large and Justin Walsh served this country with distinction and sacrificed their lives to protect our freedoms," said Widowfield in a press release. "While we will never be able to fully thank them and their families for their service, these memorial highways will serve as a small token of our gratitude and appreciation for these remarkable individuals."

Large, an Army paratrooper, was killed in October 2005 by a roadside bomb in Iraq. He graduated from Cuyahoga Falls High School in 1992.

Walsh, an explosive ordinance disposal technician with the Marine Corps, was killed in October 2006 when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in his vicinity. He graduated from Cuyahoga Falls High School in 2001.